Lottery ticker bar code

ABSTRACT

Security can be provided for lottery tickets having data printed thereon in a bar code or other machine readable media by covering only a portion of the bar code with a scratch-off material. Removing the scratch-off material, or in some cases only a portion of the scratch-off material, can permit machine validation of the lottery tickets. For bar codes having a specified level of redundancy, it is desirable to cover at least enough of the bar code to prevent the machine reading of ticket validation data encoded in the bar code. Also, a lottery ticket can include a bar code printed on the ticket having both inventory and validation data along with a bar code printed on the front of the ticket including the validation data. All or part of the bar code printed on the front of the ticket can be covered by a scratch-off material. Also, the validation and redemption process can be expedited by having a player ticket checker read a ticket identifier printed on the lottery ticket so that this information can be checked and automatically entered in an agent terminal.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of application U.S. Ser. No.10/274,886, filed Oct. 24, 2002.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to lottery tickets and in particular tolottery ticket bar codes redemption methods.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It has become conventional for lottery tickets that have a scratch-offmaterial covering play indicia printed on the ticket to also provide abar code printed on the ticket for validation or authenticationpurposes. Typically, when a winning ticket is presented for payment, thebar code is read by a bar code reader located in a lottery agentterminal and a 3 or 4 digit security code, hidden under a latex orscratch-off coating, is entered manually by a clerk using a key pad onthe terminal. The dual action of reading the bar code and entering thesecurity code confirms that the ticket is indeed a winner prior topayment of the winning amount. Forcing the clerk to find and enter thesecurity code gives both the player and the lottery administration theassurance that a retailer did not prescreen the ticket in an attempt topick out winning tickets because finding the security code requires thatsome latex must be removed from the ticket. However, attempts have beenmade to defraud lotteries where the clerks pre-screen tickets forwinners before they are sold by picking out the 3 or 4 digit codesecurity code, guessing the 3 digit code or even pasting an entirelydifferent bar code over the existing bar code on the lottery ticket.

One approach to overcoming the problem of prescreening of unsold ticketsis described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,405 where latex sensing capabilityis used to insure that that sufficient latex has been removed from theticket prior to validation. Also, circuit elements are printedunderneath the bar code in order to detect tampering with the bar code.Using this technique it is possible to print the bar code on the frontor the back of the ticket, separate from the latex covering.

A second approach to overcoming this problem is described in U.S. Pat.No. 6,308,991 where a scratch-off material is printed over the entirebar code. Either the bar code alone is covered by a separate portion ofthe scratch-off material or the bar code in combination with playindicia is covered by the scratch-off material. However, covering theentire bar code has at least one significant disadvantage. In thisapproach, almost all of the scratch-off material must be removed fromthe bar code in order to be able to have the bar code successfully readby a scanner. Requiring a player or a lottery agent to completely removea scratch-off coating from a bar code, especially on an instant lotteryticket where speed and convenience of redemption are desirablecharacteristics of this product, can result in a time consuming andinefficient method of operation.

Another problem relates to the redemption of lottery tickets using a winchecker, of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,424. In thisprocess, the player uses a win checker associated with an agent terminalto read a win code printed on the lottery ticket, and if the win codeindicates that the ticket is a winner, the player takes it to thelottery agent for redemption. In many cases, the lottery agent then hasto enter a security code or ticket identifier printed in human readableform manually on the terminal's keyboard in order to complete thevalidation and redemption process. This can also result in a timeconsuming and inefficient method of operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a lottery tickethaving a bar code that is only partially covered by a scratch-offmaterial.

It is another object of the invention to provide a lottery ticket havinga bar code containing validation data where only a portion of the barcode is covered by a scratch-off material such that the validation datacannot be read by a bar code reader without removing the scratch-offmaterial. The scratch-off material can have a predetermined shape suchas a circle in order to facilitate evidence of tampering. Alternatively,the scratch-off material can be printed over the bar code as ahorizontal or vertical strip obscuring a predetermined portion of thedata in the bar code. For example, when using a 2 dimensional code, suchas PDF-417, vertical stripes can be used to obscure one or more columnsof data in the bar code.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lottery ticket havinga bar code containing validation data formatted, in for example codewords, having a predetermined level of redundancy where only a portionof the validation data or code words is covered by a scratch-offmaterial such that the portion of code words covered by the scratch-offmaterial exceeds the level of redundancy sufficiently to preventdecoding of the validation data without removing at least a portion ofthe scratch-off material.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a lottery tickethaving a bar code containing validation data where only a portion of thebar code is covered by a scratch-off material such that the validationdata cannot be read by a bar code reader without removing thescratch-off material and where the scratch-off material includes aprinted instruction to remove the scratch-off material. The scratch-offmaterial can also be printed with an indication of prizes that can bewon as an incentive to rub off the material.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a lottery tickethaving a bar code with minimum information content on the front of theticket that is at least partially covered by a scratch-off material suchthat the ticket can be securely validated in a keyless manner after thescratch-off material has been removed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lottery ticket having amachine readable ticket identifier in conjunction with a player ticketchecker. In some cases, the ticket identifier can be used in combinationwith a win code also printed on the lottery ticket in machine readableform.

The objects of the invention also include providing a mechanism forredeeming lottery tickets having ticket identifiers printed on thetickets. This mechanism includes a player ticket checker with a datareader for reading the ticket identifiers and a pre-validation file inan agent terminal that is in communication with the player ticketchecker. The data reader can read the ticket identifier and if thelottery ticket is identified by the pre-validation file, the need for alottery agent to key the ticket identification in to the agent terminalis obviated. The data reader can also be used to read a win code if oneis included on the lottery ticket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a lottery ticket having a two dimensional (2-D)PDF-417 bar code where a portion of the bar code is covered by ascratch-off coating according to the invention;

FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D are plan views of alternate bar codes for usewith the lottery ticket of FIG. 1 including in FIG. 2A a conventionalone dimensional (1-D) interleaved 2 of 5 bar code having a portion ofthe code covered by a scratch-off coating according to the invention;

FIG. 3A is a plan view of the front of a lottery ticket having a barcode containing a security code where the bar code is partially coveredby a scratch-off coating;

FIG. 3B is a plan view of the back of the lottery ticket of FIG. 3Ahaving a bar code printed on the back of the ticket containing at aminimum all of the other data required to validate the ticket;

FIG. 4A is a plan view of the front of a lottery ticket having a barcode containing a number of different types of data of which selectedportions can be covered or partially covered by a scratch-off coatingalong with a win code and security digits covered or partially coveredby a scratch-off coating;

FIG. 4B is a plan view of the back of the lottery ticket of FIG. 4Ahaving a bar code printed on the back of the ticket containingvalidation and inventory data;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an apparatus for validating and redeeminglottery tickets of the type shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B; and

FIG. 6 is a logic flow diagram of a process for redeeming lotterytickets of the type shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates the front of a conventional instant type lotteryticket 10 having a play area 12 covered by a scratch-off material 14which is usually comprised of a latex based composition printed overplay indicia (not shown). In this embodiment of the invention, a twodimensional (2-D) bar code 16 containing validation data as well asinventory data is printed on the lottery ticket 10. In order insure theremoval of a scratch-off material prior to the validation of the ticket10, a portion of the bar code 16 is covered by a scratch-off material18. The scratch-off material 18 can be the same as the scratch-offmaterial 14 printed on the play area 12 of the lottery ticket. Here,only a portion of the bar code 16 is covered by the scratch-off material18 to make it easier for a player or lottery agent to remove thescratch-off material 18 during the validation process. This will alsofacilitate the validation process since players in particular areunlikely to take the time to remove a scratch-off material that coversan entire bar code which can result in substantial work for theretailer's clerk or a substantial number of misreads from a bar codescanner in a lottery terminal. However, the scratch-off material 18should cover a sufficient portion of the bar code 16 in order to preventvalidation of the lottery ticket 10 if the bar code 16 is read by a barcode reader prior to removal of the scratch-off material.

It should be noted that the use of the term “bar code” as used herein inthe context of the invention generally represents optically machinereadable information printed on a lottery ticket and would include forexample optical character recognition (OCR) type characters, informationprinted in various matrix schemes, such as the Data Matrix 2-D bar codedescribed at idautomation.com, as well as other optically readableinformation that might be developed in the future.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, the valuation datacan be stored in the bar code 16 as PDF (Portable Data Code) code wordsprinted in a 2-D bar code format in the data region 20 of the bar code16. Preferably, the code words will have a predetermined level ofredundancy. For example, where the data region 20 has 3 columns and 6rows with 18 code words, a level 2 error correction permits decodingwith up to 8 code words unreadable. Therefore, at least 9 code wordsshould preferably be covered by the scratch-off material 18 to preventthe reading of the validation data without removing any of thescratch-off material 18. Similarly, in the data region 20 where thereare 6 columns and 6 rows with 36 code words, a level 3 error correctionwould permit reading of the validation data with 16 code words beingunreadable. Here, at least 17 code words should preferably be covered toprevent reading of the bar code data. Thus, it is desirable to cover atleast one more code word or other type of redundant data in the bar code16 than required to make the data in the data region 20 readable. Thisarrangement using PDF codes with specified levels of redundancy, alsohas a very significant advantage. Since it is only necessary to removeenough of the scratch-off coating to make the minimum number of codewords required to decode the validation data readable, the player orlottery agent only has to remove a comparatively small portion of thescratch-off material. In the cases of the level 2 and 3 error correctiondescribed above, only one code word would need to be removed by theplayer to make the valuation data stored in the bar code 16 readable.Thus, it is not necessary to rely on diligent and thorough removal ofthe scratch-off material 12 to have an efficient validation process.

In general, it is desirable to cover with the scratch-off material anyinformation in a bar code redundant to the information in the bar codethat is covered by the scratch-off material in order to prevent machinereading of the validation data. this redundant information can includeerror correction codes built into the bar code such as, for example, aReed Solomon error correction code integrated into an ECC200 Data Matrixbar code.

FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate different shapes of the scratch-off material thatcan be used to cover a portion of the bar code on the lottery ticket 10.The scratch-off material 18 is shown in FIG. 1 as a rectangle covering adata region 20 of the bar code 16. However, other shapes orconfigurations of the scratch-off material can be used as well. In somecircumstances, shapes that are designed to enhance visual evidence oftampering can be used. As shown in FIG. 2A, printing a scratch-offmaterial 22 in a circular configuration over a portion of a bar code 24is one such example. FIG. 2B illustrates a scratch-off material 26printed in a horizontal strip across a portion of a bar code 28. In thiscase, the bar code 28 is a two-dimensional bar code and the strip 26 isplaced to cover a sufficient number of code words to prevent reading thebar code 28. Also, as shown in FIG. 2C, the scratch-off material can beprinted over a bar code 30 in one or more vertical strips such as avertical strip 32 covering a portion of a data region 34 of the bar code30. Also, vertical strips, for example a pair of strips 34 and 36 of thescratch-off material, can be printed over the start pattern and stoppattern (not shown) of the bar code 30 although covering these patternsis not preferable because reading by a bar code reader is made easier bysimply positioning photocopies of start and/or stop codes over thelatex. In some circumstances, shapes that are designed to enhance visualevidence of tampering can be used.

To enhance player participation and the validation process, thescratch-off materials 18, 22, 32, 34 and 36 can include human readableinformation such as incentives to scratch-off this material. As shown inFIG. 1, the scratch-off material 18 is printed with an instruction“scratch 2-Cash. Other incentives, such as “Scratch For Bonus” 40 asshown in FIG. 2A, or “Rub For Prize Value” can be printed on thescratch-off material 22 that indicate that a bonus prize is printed onthe lottery ticket 10 under the scratch-off material 22. Similarly, a“Void If Removed” instruction 42 can be printed over the scratch-offmaterial 26 as depicted in FIG. 2B. This instruction 42 is similar tosome conventional lottery tickets where a “Void If Removed” instructionis printed on a scracth-off material covering human readable validationdigits where the scratch-off material is removed by the lottery agentwhen the ticket is presented for redemption.

FIG. 2D shows another embodiment of the invention that can enhance thesecurity of the lottery ticket 10. Here, under a scratch-off materialsuch as 18 on the bar code 16, a consumer warning 43 can be printed suchas “Don't Buy.” In this case, the warning 43 will indicate to the playerthat the scratch-off material 18 has been improperly removed andconsequently should not buy the lottery ticket 10. Preferably, thewarning 43 should not interfere with the reading of the bar code 16. Forexample, if the warning 43 is printed in a red ink, this text will notinterfere with reading of the bar code 16 since bar code readerstypically illuminate the bar code in red light.

With reference to FIG. 2C where the bar code 30 is printed in aone-dimensional (1-D) bar code format, in some cases it would only benecessary to cover the portion of the bar code 30 that corresponds tothe human readable validation data securely printed below thescratch-off material, 32. For example, instant lottery tickets generallyhave the following data printed on the ticket in human readable form:Data Length Location Printed Covered by Latex Game number: 3 digitsTicket back No Pack number: 6 digits Ticket back No Ticket number: 3digits Ticket back No Validation number: 9 digits Ticket front YesSecurity code: 3 digits Ticket front Yes Checksum: 2 digits Ticket frontYes

The bar codes printed on instant tickets typically use the Interleaved 2of 5 (I 2 of 5) format. In such a bar code the information is arrangedin pairs of digits. Each pair of digits corresponds to a single bar codecharacter. So, the above 24 digits of data would be represented bytwelve I 2 of 5 bar code characters. Since the game, pack and ticketnumber are often printed in human readable form on the back of thelottery ticket 10, there is no security reason to cover these digitswith latex when printed in a bar code. Thus, in one embodiment of theinvention, only those bar code characters that correspond to thevalidation information are concealed under the scratch-off material 32.In this case, that would correspond to the 12 digits of the validationnumber and security code. This results in the bar code 30 having just 12of its 24 digits of data, or 50% of its data, covered by the scratch-offmaterial 32.

However, this still results in a large portion of the bar code 30 beingcovered by the scratch-off material 32 because it is standard practicein the lottery industry to print the validation number in the I 2 of 5bar code along with the inventory control information and the checksum.Often, one or more of the security code digits is not printed in the I 2of 5 bar code. Accordingly it is preferable in certain cases to print aconventional I 2 of 5 bar code such as 30 with only the bar codecharacters corresponding to the security code obscured by thescratch-off material 32. Thus, in this example, only 2 of the 12 barcode characters are covered with the scratch-off material 32, orapproximately 16.7% of the characters. This results in a lottery ticket10 having the minimal amount of the scratch-off material 32 that has tobe removed to validate the ticket 10 yet having security equivalent toconventional lottery tickets where the security digit(s) are not presentin the bar code. Or, in bar codes where the security digits are present,covering the security digits with the scratch-off material 32 canincrease security.

In another technique commonly used to print information in an I 2 of 5bar code the 9-digit validation number and the 3-digit security code arecompressed and encrypted into a 10-digit string of encrypted validationdata. This encrypted string is then printed in the clear in the I 2 of 5bar code along with the inventory control data and checksum. Thisresults in an I 2 of 5 bar code containing 22 decimal digits or 11 barcode characters. With this type of bar code only a small amount of thecode need be covered by the scratch-off material 32 to prevent it frombeing read by a bar code reader prior to the lottery ticket 10 beingsold to the public. With a conventional 1-D code, such as I 2 of 5, onlythe smallest of obstructions can prevent the code from being read. Insome cases, simply covering a single narrow space between two of thevertical bars of the bar code will prevent it from being read. However,if such a small covering were partially removed, prior to the sale tothe public, it would probably not be noticed by the player. Therefore,it is preferable that the amount of scratch-off material 32 covering thebar code 30 should be sufficiently distinctive that its removal ortampering would be evident to a player.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, one problem with placing a conventionallottery ticket bar code on the front of the ticket, such as the bar code16 on the lottery ticket 10 shown in FIG. 1, is that the bar code 16consumes valuable space that can otherwise be used for graphics,advertising, instructional information or the instant lottery game playdata itself. That is why printing bar codes on the back of lotterytickets has become the industry standard. Furthermore, even if all ofthe data required to validate the lottery ticket is contained in thefront bar code, partially or totally covered by latex, it is generallystill desirable to have uncovered bar codes on lottery tickets that canbe used for inventory control, manufacturing and distribution. In oneembodiment of the invention depicted in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the front of alottery ticket 44 is printed with a play area 46 and a small bar code48. The bar code 48 can be either partially or totally covered by ascratch-off material 50. In this embodiment, the front bar code 48preferably contains validation information and, as discussed above, itmight be desirable to cover only a small portion of the bar code 48 suchas the security code with the scratch-off material 50. The back of thelottery ticket 44 is then printed with a second uncovered bar code 52.As is conventional, the back of the lottery ticket can also be printedwith human readable information such as a set of rules 54 for the game.In this embodiment, the second bar code 52 contains inventoryinformation such as the game, pack, ticket number and a check sum andcan include some or all of the validation data. Therefore, by printingthe first bar code 48 on the front of the ticket, partially or totallycovered by the scratch-off material 50, it is possible to provide securekeyless validation of the ticket by requiring that both bar codes beread during the validation process. The agent terminal can be providedwith two bar code readers or a mirror arrangement of the type shown inU.S. Pat. No. 6,053,405 can be used for this purpose. Preferably, thesmall bar code 48 on the front of the lottery ticket 44 contains, at aminimum, the security digits or the checksum of some or all of theinformation in the back bar code that is at least partially concealedunder the scratch-off material 50. Although it is preferable to coverthis type of security information on the front bar code 48 with thescratch-off material 50, it should be noted that other types ofinformation, for example, a portion of the inventory data can be coveredby the scratch-off material 50 instead. In this case the object ofcovering at least a portion of the bar code 48 with the scratch-offmaterial 50 is to prevent validation of the lottery ticket 44 by anagent terminal before the lottery ticket 44 is sold. The amount of thefront bar code 48 covered by the scratch-off material 50 can be selectedusing the criteria discussed above in connection with the bar codes inFIGS. 1 and 2A-C.

It should be understood that the various embodiments of the inventiondescribed in connection with FIGS. 1, 2A-C and 3A-B only providespecific examples of how the invention can be implemented on a lotteryticket. The number and location of the bar code(s) and the portioncovered by the scratch-off coatings will generally be governed by anumber of factors including the type of lottery ticket, e.g., instant orprobability, the physical size of the ticket, the size of the play arearequired, the amount of human readable and display information desired,the type of bar code used, e.g., 1-D or 2-D, the level of redundancy inthe bar codes and the number and characteristics of bar code readers inthe available agent terminals. Also, the lottery ticket can beconfigured in such a way that a portion of the scratch-off material 18used to cover the play indicia in the play area 12 can be used to coverall or part of a bar code such as the bar code 48.

FIGS. 4A and 4B depict alternate configurations of a lottery ticket 56according to the invention. The front of the lottery ticket 56 is shownin FIG. 4A and includes the play area 12 scratch-off coating 14 whichcovers a set of play indicia 57. Included on the front of the lotteryticket 56 is a front bar code as indicated by a line 58 that can containvarious types of information. To simplify the illustrations, the frontbar code 58 is shown in FIG. 4A as having a number of different types ofinformation rather that providing drawings that show every possiblecombination of information that can be contained in the bar code 58.Specifically, the information in the bar code 58 is shown as including aset of check digits 60. One object of the check digits 60 in thisembodiment is to provide a level of confidence that at least certainportions of the data printed on the lottery ticket 56 is correct. Thecheck digits can take the form of a check sum of validation numbers orthe inventory data printed on the lottery ticket 56 or some otherfunctional relationship, such as an integrity number of the typedescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,079. Here the bar code 58 also includesa set of validation data 62, a set of inventory data 64, a win codealong with a security code or ticket identifier 66 and a prize code 68.Again for simplicity of description, portions of the information 60-68in the front bar code 58 are depicted as being covered by a scratch-offcoating 70. For any particular embodiment of the invention, theportions, if any, of the front bar code 58 that are covered by thescratch-off coating 70 can be selected using the criteria discussedabove in connection with the bar codes in FIGS. 1, 2A-C and 3A-B. Inaddition the front of the lottery ticket 56 includes a separate win code72 and a ticket identifier 74 both printed preferably in encryptedmachine readable form inside the play area 12 on the ticket 56.Alternatively, the win code 72 and ticket identifier 74 can be locatedoutside of the play area 12 or in the bar code 58 as indicated at 66.The ticket identifier 74 can also be printed in human readable form onthe lottery ticket 56 in another location on the lottery ticket 56 andcovered by, for example, the scratch off coating 14. The ticketidentifier 74 can be a function of the inventory data 64, the validationdata 62, other data that might serve to identify the lottery ticket 56,or any combination of the this data. Preferably, the ticket identifier74 is a check sum of selected data. Although the win code 72 and theticket identifier 74 can be uncovered, it is preferable that at least aportion of these codes 72 and 74 be covered by the scratch-off coating14 or a similar scratch-off coating if located outside of the play area12. The win code 72 can be a simple encrypted binary code, printed forexample in a 2D PDF format, indicating that the lottery ticket 56 is awinner or not. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,424, the advantage ofthe win code or win checker 72 is that a player can directly read thewin code 72 at an agent terminal to determine if the lottery ticket 56is a winner without a lottery agent having to take the time to read andvalidate the ticket 56. During validation in this embodiment of theinvention, the ticket identifier 74 can be used to link the ticket beingvalidated to the identity of the ticket 56 whose win code 72 has beenread by a player ticket checker. Generally, it is preferable to locatethe win code 72 and the ticket identifier 74 in a location other than onthe bar code 58. As such, the location shown in FIG. 4A of the win codeand ticket identifier 66 in the bar code 58 are indicated as analternate by a dashed line 66.

Similarly, the back of the lottery ticket 56 is depicted in FIG. 4B ashaving a bar code 78 containing various types of information. In theillustration of FIG. 4B, the bar code 78 includes a set of check digits80, a set of validation data 82 and a set of inventory data 84. As withthe front bar code 58 depicted in FIG. 4A, the back bar code 78 is shownas having a number of different types of information rather thatproviding drawings that show every possible combination of this type ofinformation that can be contained in the bar code 78. Although theremight be certain circumstances where it would be desirable to cover allor portions of the data 80-84 in the back bar code 78 with a scratch-offcoating, this data 80-84 will not be covered in the preferredembodiments of the invention in order to expedite validation orredemption of the lottery ticket 56 and to facilitate inventory anddistribution of the lottery tickets 56. By the same token, placement ofthe win code 72 and the ticket identifier 74 on the back of the lotteryticket might be desirable under certain circumstances, but in thepreferred embodiments of the invention, they are located on the front ofthe lottery ticket 56. It should be noted that, as is conventional inthe manufacture of instant lottery tickets, the term imaging can be usedto denote the printing of variable data such as the play indicia 57, thebar codes 58 and 78, the win code 72 and the ticket identifier 74 on thelottery ticket 56. Frequently, this data is applied to a lottery ticketsubstrate by an ink jet printer while display printing and scratch-offcoatings or materials are typically applied by a gravure or flexographicprinting process.

In most embodiments of the invention, the back bar code 78 will includethe inventory data 84 but can include all or a portion of the ticketidentifier data as well. The check digits 80 can be used to confirm allor just a predetermined portion of the data read from the back bar code78. It should also be noted that the back bar code 78 can include thecheck digits 80 that can be used in a process confirm data read from thefront bar code 58. If the check digits 60 or 80 do not confirm the datain the bar codes 78 or 58, the lottery ticket generally will be rejected

As indicated above, the various embodiments of the invention can bestructure based on such factors as: the physical size and layout of thelottery tickets; the prize structure; validation hardware available suchas the configuration of agent terminals; and the level of securitydesired. These factors can also be balanced against certain generalobjectives such as minimizing the amount of machine readable data on thefront of a lottery ticket, for example, the size of a bar code andminimizing the amount of scratch-off material that a player is requiredto remove to redeem a lottery ticket. The invention can include thefollowing representative embodiments.

First, the lottery ticket 56 can include only the validation data 62,partially or completely covered by the scratch-off coating 70, on thefront of the ticket 56 with only the inventory data 64 printed on theback of the ticket 56. A variation of this embodiment can include thecheck digits 60 or 80 printed on the front or back of the ticket 56 thatwould link the two codes 62 and 82.

Another embodiment can include a portion of the validation data 62,partially or completely covered by the scratch-off coating 70, on thefront of the lottery ticket 56 with the inventory data 64 and only aportion of the validation data 62 printed on the back of the ticket 56and the check digits 60 and 80 printed on both sides of the ticket 56.

In a third embodiment, the lottery ticket 56 includes the inventory data84 and a portion of the validation data printed on the back of theticket 56 and further includes the win code 72 and the ticket identifier74 printed on the front of the ticket 56 where the ticket identifier 74is printed in human readable form. During redemption, the win code 72and the ticket identifier 74 are read by the ticket checker 100 and ifthe ticket identifier is not read by the ticket checker 100, a lotteryagent can enter the ticket identifier digits 74 via the keyboard 92 intothe terminal 88.

The lottery ticket 56 in a fourth embodiment can include the prize code68 which is at least partially covered by the scratch-off coating 70along with the check digits 60 that represent all or part of theinformation in the back bar code 78 including the inventory data 84. Inaddition to the prize code 68, the front bar code 58 can include atleast a portion of the validation data 62 that can be uncovered orpartially covered by the scratch-off coating 70.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a lottery system 86 that can be used toredeem and validate lottery tickets such as the lottery ticket 56.Included in the lottery system 86 are a number of agent terminals suchas an agent terminal 88. The agent terminal 88 can include such elementsas: one or more displays such as a display 90 for displaying informationto lottery agents and players; a keyboard 92 for permitting a lotteryagent to enter information into the agent terminal 88; a printer 94; abar code reader 96 which preferably has the capability of reading barcodes on both the front and back of a lottery ticket; and apre-validation file 98. In some embodiments of the invention, thekeyboard 92 can be used by a lottery agent to enter the ticketidentifier 74 into the terminal 88 when they are printed on the lotteryticket 56 in human readable form. The apparatus 86 also includes aplayer ticket checker 100, which has a reader 102 that can be, forexample, a 2D PDF reader which can be used by a player to read the wincode 72 and the ticket identifier 74 on the lottery ticket 56. Theticket checker can also include a display 104 to communicate to theplayer if the lottery ticket 56 is a winner or not. A terminal processor106 that preferably includes a microprocessor 107 is used to control thevarious operating elements of the agent terminal 88 such as element90-98. As is conventional in the lottery industry, the terminals such asthe agent terminal 88 are connected to a lottery administration dataprocessing system 108 as indicated by a line 110 where the system 108typically includes a number of functional elements such as a hostcomputer 112 and a validation file 114.

FIG. 6 illustrates the operation of a representative embodiment of aredemption process for a lottery ticket having at least some of theelements of the lottery ticket 56 shown in FIGS. 4A-B. In thisembodiment the win code 72 is used although in some embodiments it mightbe desirable to only use the ticket identifier 74. First, as indicatedby a box 116, a player purchases the lottery ticket 56 and in thisexample scratches off the scratch-off coating 14 that covers the playindicia 57 as well as both the win code 72 and the ticket identifier 74.Then, as shown in a box 118, the player uses the player ticket checker100 to read the win code 72. In the preferred embodiment, the playerticket checker 100 can also, at the same time, read the ticketidentifier 74. One of the advantages of this embodiment is that theticket identifier 74 is entered automatically into the terminal 88 viathe player ticket checker 100. It should be noted here that as analternative, the bar code reader 96 can be used to read the win code andthe ticket identifier 66 after a portion of the scratch-off coating 70has been removed in the event that these codes are located in the barcode 58. It is, however, considered preferable to locate the win code 72and the ticket identifier 74 separate from the bar code 58 as shown bythe locations of these codes 72 and 74 in FIG. 4A. The ticket identifier74 can also be printed in human readable form facilitating the entry ofthe security digits 66 into the terminal 88 using the keyboard 92 if thesecurity digits in the ticket identifier 74 cannot be enteredautomatically. In this embodiment of the process, after the win code 72has been read, it is checked by the processor 106 as indicated at adecision block 120. If as shown by a block 122 the win code 72 indicatesthat the lottery ticket 56 is not a winner, the redemption process endsand the lottery ticket 56 will generally be disposed of by the player.If on the other hand the win code 72 indicates that the lottery ticket56 is a winner, the ticket checker 100, as shown by a block 124, willtransmit the ticket identifier 74 to the terminal 88. Also, asillustrated by a block 126, the ticket checker 100 can display a messagesuch as “winner—see agent to claim prize” on the display 104 after theticket identifier 74 has been sent to the terminal 88. The ticketidentifier 74 will then be sent to the agent terminal 88 as representedby a line 128 and stored into the pre-validation file 98 as indicated bya block 129. It should be noted that in some embodiments, thepre-validation file 98 can initially be empty or null and as each ticketidentifier 74 is read by the ticket checker 100 at the step 118, thepre-validation file 98 will be built as tickets are presented forvalidation. When the player presents the ticket 56 for payment the frontbar code 58, the back bar code 78 or both bar codes are read asindicated by a block 130. At this point in this example of the process,the processor 106 determines if the corresponding ticket identifier 74is represented in the pre-validation file 98, as indicated in a decisionblock 132. If the ticket identifier 74 matches an entry in thepre-validation file 98, then in this embodiment, the process proceeds tovalidate the lottery ticket 56 as represented by a decision block 134.If the ticket identifier 74 does not exist in the pre-validation file 98or is not successfully read by the data reader 102, then the agent canuse the human readable ticket identifier 74 on the lottery ticket 56 andenter it into the terminal 88 manually via a keyboard 92 as shown by ablock 136. It will be appreciated that this process can also be used todetermine if the scratch-off coating has been properly removed. After asuccessful confirmation of the ticket identifier 74, this particularembodiment of the process validates the lottery ticket 56 as indicatedby the decision block 134. For example, the processor 106 can use thevalidation data 62 or 82 in combination with game information stored inthe terminal 88 to validate low tier lottery tickets that have lowredemption values and for high tier lottery tickets having highredemption values, the processor 106 can communicate with the lotteryadministration 108 to perform the validation process 134. If the lotteryticket 56 has not been successfully validated, then the ticket 56 isrejected as shown in a block 138. On the other hand if the lotteryticket 56 is validated, conventional methods can be used to pay theplayer the redemption value of the lottery ticket 56. As an example, theagent terminal display 90 can be used to display the winning amountwhich is then typically paid to the player by the agent as indicated bya block 140.

1-25. (canceled)
 26. A lottery ticket redemption apparatus for redeeminga lottery ticket comprising: an agent terminal having a keyboard, adisplay and a bar code reader adapted to read a bar code printed on thelottery ticket; a player ticket checker, operatively connected to saidagent terminal, having a data reader adapted to read a win code and aticket identifier printed on the lottery ticket; a pre-validation file,operatively associated with said data reader, adapted to receive atleast one of said ticket identifiers; and a processor, including amicroprocessor, operatively connected to said agent terminal and saidplayer ticket checker effective to determine if said ticket identifierprinted on the lottery ticket read by said data reader corresponds toone of said ticket identifiers in said pre-validation file such that thelottery ticket can be validated by said agent terminal without having tomanually enter said ticket identifier by said keyboard.
 27. Theapparatus of claim 26 wherein said processor and said pre-validationfile are located in said agent terminal and said ticket checker iseffective to transmit said ticket identifier read by said data reader tosaid processor for said determination.
 28. The apparatus of claim 27wherein said processor is effective to generate a message on saiddisplay instructing a lottery agent to manually enter said ticketidentifier if said ticket identifier printed on the lottery ticket readby said data reader does not corresponds to one of said correspondingticket identifiers in said pre-validation file.
 29. The apparatus ofclaim 26 wherein the lottery ticket includes data printed in a bar codeand said ticket identifier is a function of said data.
 30. The apparatusof claim 29 wherein said data includes a validation number and saidticket identifier is a check sum of at least a portion of saidvalidation number.
 31. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein said dataincludes a inventory data number and said ticket identifier is a checksum of at least a portion of said inventory data.
 32. The apparatus ofclaim 26 wherein said player ticket checker is located remote from saidagent terminal and said data reader is adapted to read a win codeprinted on the lottery ticket and wherein said player ticket checkeradditionally includes a display for indicating the ticket is a winner ornot in response to said win code read by said data reader.
 33. Theapparatus of claim 32 wherein said processor and said pre-validationfile are located in said agent terminal and said ticket checker iseffective to transmit said ticket identifier read by said data reader tosaid processor for said determination when said win code read by saiddata reader indicates that the ticket is a winner. 34-41. (canceled) 42.A lottery ticket redemption apparatus for redeeming a lottery tickethaving a win code and a ticket identifier printed in a bar code on theticket comprising: an agent terminal having a keyboard, a display and abar code reader adapted to read the bar code; a player ticket checker,operatively connected to said agent terminal, having a data readeradapted to read the win code and the ticket identifier; a pre-validationfile, operatively associated with said data reader, adapted to receivethe ticket identifier read by said data reader; and a processoroperatively connected to said agent terminal, said pre-validation fileand said player ticket checker effective to determine if the ticketidentifier printed on the lottery ticket read by said data readercorresponds to one of said ticket identifiers in said pre-validationfile.
 43. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein if said ticket identifierprinted on the lottery ticket corresponds to one of said identifiers insaid pre-validation file, then said agent terminal is effective tovalidate the lottery ticket without intervention by an agent.
 44. Theapparatus of claim 43 wherein said agent terminal additionally includesa keyboard to enable a lottery agent to validate the lottery ticket ifsaid ticket identifier printed on the lottery ticket does not correspondto one of said identifiers in said pre-validation file.
 45. Theapparatus of claim 44 wherein said ticket identifier is additionallyprinted in human readable form to facilitate entering on said keyboard.46. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein said player ticket checker iseffective to transmit said ticket identifier to said pre-validationfile.
 47. A lottery game method comprising the steps of: printing playindicia on a first side of a lottery ticket; covering at least a portionof said play indicia with a first scratch-off coating; printing a barcode containing a ticket identifier; covering at least a portion of saidbar code with a second scratch-off coating; printing a win code on saidlottery ticket indicating whether or not the lottery ticket is a winner;removing at least a portion of said first and a portion of said secondscratch-off coatings; utilizing a ticket checker to read said win code;utilizing a bar code reader to read said first bar code; If said ticketchecker indicates the lottery ticket is a winner, transmitting saidticket identifier to an agent terminal; validating the lottery ticketusing said ticket identifier in said lottery terminal utilizing saidticket identifier transmitted to said lottery terminal.
 48. The methodof claim 47 wherein said step of reading said bar code is accomplishedin a bar code reader located in said ticket checker.
 49. The method ofclaim 47 wherein said ticket identifier is stored in a pre-validationfile in an agent terminal.
 50. The method of claim 49 wherein saidvalidation step includes the steps of reading said bar code via a barcode reader located in an agent terminal and comparing said ticketidentifier stored in said pre-validation file to said ticket identifierread by said bar code reader in said agent terminal.
 51. The method ofclaim 50 including the step of printing said ticket identifier in humanreadable form on said lottery ticket and wherein said validation stepincludes manually entering said ticket identifier into said agentterminal if there is not match between said ticket identifier stored insaid pre-validation file with said ticket identifier read by said barcode reader in said agent terminal.
 52. The method of claim 50 wherein aplurality of said ticket identifiers are stored in said pre-validationfile and said comparison step includes comparing said ticket identifiersstored in said pre-validation file to said ticket identifier read bysaid bar code reader in said agent terminal and validating the lotteryticket if a match is found with said ticket identifier read by said barcode reader.
 53. The method of claim 48 wherein said steps of readingsaid win code and said barcode are performed in said bar code reader insaid ticket checker. transmitted to said agent terminal in not usable tovalidate the lottery ticket.